4.4 • 921 Ratings
🗓️ 10 December 2024
⏱️ 68 minutes
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Guy P. Harrison is an acclaimed author of nine thought-provoking books that encourage curiosity and critical thinking. In this engaging episode, he and Michael Shermer discuss how science fiction inspires us to think beyond the ordinary and explore the vast possibilities of human progress. From his latest work to his passion for rational dialogue, Harrison’s insights are both inspiring and accessible.
Shermer and Harrison tackle a diverse range of topics, including the societal value of science fiction, the flawed debates about religion and evolution, and why humanity might ultimately prevail despite existential threats like AI. They examine UFOs and the Fermi Paradox, discuss redefining atheism, and share optimism about human progress. Harrison’s engaging insights inspire curiosity and critical thinking throughout the episode.
Guy Harrison is an award-winning writer and author of nine books, including Think: Why You Should Question Everything, At Least Know This, 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God, and Good Thinking. His work has been featured in Skeptic, Reader’s Digest, The Institute of Arts and Ideas, Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, Big Think, and many other publications. Guy is a longtime essayist for Psychology Today and contributed a chapter about race and racism to The Cognitive Science of Beliefpublished by Cambridge University Press. Random House featured his book Think: Why You Should Question Everything as recommended reading for all first-year university students, and the San Diego Union-Tribunenamed At Least Know This a top-five summer read. His new book, Damn You, Entropy! 1,001 of the Greatest Science Fiction Quotes was a New Scientist magazine “Best Science Fiction Books of the Month” selection.
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0:00.0 | You're listening to The Michael Shermer Show. All right, let's talk about science fiction, 1001 of the greatest science fiction. |
0:30.2 | By the way, I love the cover design. |
0:32.4 | Whoever did that for Prometheus books, really kind of captured that 1950s feel |
0:37.2 | when science fiction, I guess, |
0:38.7 | really came of age. |
0:40.1 | Yeah. |
0:40.3 | I suppose. |
0:40.9 | Have you always been interested in science fiction since your kid? |
0:43.2 | Yeah. |
0:43.7 | Yeah. |
0:44.5 | Goes all the way back to the murky days of my childhood. |
0:48.4 | The first, I guess, science fiction memory I have is standing, you know, probably four years old, maybe. |
0:56.2 | Four years old, I have to be four or five maybe. |
0:59.8 | Standing sort of wobbly legged in the backseat of my parents' car at the drive in theater, |
1:04.3 | Planet of the Apes, the original. |
1:06.6 | Oh, God. |
1:07.6 | You know, mom and dad in the front seat and I'm just watching that mind blown. And then... That is still a great film. Oh, God. And, you know, mom and dad in the front seat, and I'm just watching that mind-blown. |
1:12.0 | And then... |
1:12.9 | That is still a great film. |
1:14.5 | Oh, it is. |
1:15.1 | It holds up. |
1:16.0 | So, I mean... |
... |
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